How Do I Use Hashtags in My Social Media Marketing?
There is a lot of discussion about hashtags and their use. The truth is, a hashtag is just a keyword phrase spelled out without spaces, with a hashtag (#) in front of it (called the pound symbol in the US). The point of using hashtags is to attract your audience, categorize your messages, build your brand, and increase engagement.
To use hashtags in your social media marketing, you may want to learn the ropes.
Ensure Your Hashtags Are Relevant
Don’t just put in a hashtag to say you did. Take the time to research keywords to come up with hashtags that your audience might create. You want the hashtag to appear natural and to truly relate to the content you’re sharing with your audience.
Use Very Specific Niche-Related Hashtags
When you search for hashtags, consider using very specific, niche-related hashtags even if they are super-popular. A lot of people follow specific hashtags, so if you can use the popular ones – even in a saturated niche – you can now appear in those results and benefit from the popularity of the keyword hashtag.
Check Out Related Hashtags
Be careful about related hashtags because you want to make sure the keywords are truly related to your niche and the content you’re sharing before you use it. You can use tools on Instagram to find related hashtags to consider, or you can use a service like hashtagify.me.
Don’t Use the Same Ones Repeatedly
You may already know that you shouldn’t use keywords over and over on too many pages on your site. The same thing is true for hashtags. If you keep using the same ones in the same order in the same way on all your content, it will start to seem like spam to the search engines. Instead, mix it up and use new ones as often as you can.
Use Hashtag Data to Track Trends
You can use the data on your platforms to find out how your hashtags are performing. When you see certain topics are performing at a higher level, it’s a good sign to discover more related hashtags and to create more content and use those to get more viewers.
Add Hashtag Links to Your Bio
A great way to use hashtags is to put one in your bio that leads to a landing page that provides information about everything to do with the keyword in that hashtag.
Use Enough Hashtags
Some people complain about how many hashtags are used, but the fact is, right now on Instagram, using nine hashtags ensures more views than if you use fewer. You can use as many as thirty on a regular post and ten on a story.
Search for the Best Hashtags
When you are thinking about hashtags, don’t just make them up on the spot. Instead, take the time to conduct keyword and hashtag research using data so that the hashtags you choose really do perform.
Learn How to Hide Hashtags When Appropriate
On many platforms, you can add hashtags but then hide them from the viewer. Click around to find out how this works. Your viewer won’t be distracted by the hashtags and will pay closer attention to your content, but you won’t miss out on the search engines helping them find your information.
Once you understand the power of hashtags in your social media marketing, you’re going to want to start using them. Remember that you don’t want to repeat the same hashtags over and over or use irrelevant hashtags. Doing it right will ensure that using hashtags gives you all the results you desire.
